Ecology resources for students: Part 1

Good afternoon!

I’m back with another set of bookmarks for students and teachers. Because I’ve taught the IB Environmental systems and societies course for several years, this set of online resources is closest to my heart. Some of these links are here simply because I think they’re cool or fun. Many may also be applicable for studying biology and chemistry as well. Let’s get to it:

• United States Census Bureau. Extensive database of global human populations. Can be used to create age-sex pyramids, as well as other applications.
• Earth wind map. A cool interactive resource to check wind patterns in real time anywhere on the planet.
• Visualizing Environmental Science, 1st edition. By John Wiley and Sons, Inc. Online textbook and animations. Much of the site is password protected, but parts are available for free.
• IB Environmental systems and societies worksheets and past questions. From Pearson, a of publisher of one of the IB-aligned student textbooks.
• Edge of Existence, by the London Zoological Society. Full of resources on endangered species.
• Living National Treasures. A guide to threatened and endangered species which are endemic to a single country and nowhere else. Searchable by country or species.
• Aquatic and Terrestrial Biomes. University of Miami, Florida, USA. The page looks a little dated but is still a wealth of information.
• The Habitable Planet. An extensive digital platform for teaching “the systems approach to environmental science”. By the Annenberg Foundation and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
• Ecology and geography fieldwork techniques.
• Survey techniques for beginners. From Wild About Britain.
• Field survey methods from the New South Wales  Office of Environment and Heritage. More advanced than resources above.
• Wildlife Surveys presentation 1. A powerpoint presentation about how to conduct wildlife surveys.
• Wildlife Surveys presentation 2. A powerpoint presentation about how to conduct wildlife surveys.
• Wildlife survey field lab template. This PDF from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection has a good layout to help middle school teachers and students design their own field surveys.
• GRID-Arendal Maps and Infographics Library. In association with UNEP. This is one of my favorite resources for teaching environmental science. Searchable by topic, keyword, or geography. All maps and images are free to share. Awesome!
• Timelapse. Watch the world change over the course of nearly three decades of satellite photography.
• Ocean Health Index. A searchable database around several components of ocean health.
• NicheScience. An IB ESS YouTube channel, with podcasts for most of the old syllabus and a growing list of videos aligned with the new syllabus.
• AP Environmental Science. Another YouTube playlist from the very talented Paul Andersen.
• Kyoto Protocol. A website dedicated to the organizations and research involved in the effort to understand climate change.
• IPCC official website. Home of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service homepage.
• Animation gallery from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Searchable. Reliable. Lots of visual data.
• Visualizing global carbon footprints. Interactive data maps from National Geographic.
• Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process. From the World Food and Agriculture Organization.
• ARKive photo and video collections organized by species, conservation status, geography, environmental topic, habitat, and student age group. UK-centered.
• Edible Schoolyard. All the resources you need to create a food garden at your school. Based on the very successful program in the U.S.

Happy learning!

Cheers,

Mr K